Kingdom Hearts II: Final Rebirth
by Variable Zero
Summary: The story of Kingdom Hearts is memorable for all who know it. But if one thing is changed, if one life is saved, then how would the story change? This is the story of Kingdom Hearts II, if Xion was given a second chance. ON HIATUS.
1. Prologue: Rebirth from the Heart

**_NWZ_****: Hello! I'm Novice' Writer Zero, here to write my first official, solo fanfic! Some of you may know me(or not know me at all) from the SOTRC Universe fics by OathtoOblivion and company, so this will be big, considering that I'm doing this on my own. Now, you're probably wondering, why the title is 'Final Rebirth'? Well, the 'Final' part is because it contains content from Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix. As for the 'Rebirth' part, you'll find out soon enough. Now, to the Disclaimer! **

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY OTHER MATERIAL IN THIS FIC, THEY ALL BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. OTHERWISE I WOULD BE A MILLIONARE.**

**_NWZ_****: Now, on with the fic! (Or at least the prologue)**

* * *

_**Prologue: Rebirth From the Heart**_

She heard it again, the sound of the waves.

When she first ever heard the sound, it was nostalgically pleasant. Now, it simply brought home the point that nothing would ever be the same.

When she first arrived on this beach, she instinctively knew that this was his home, his heart. Though the girl had never heard of the phrase, 'home is where the hearts is', she would have to agree with that statement whole-heartedly. She felt a sense of belonging in this place, that she was meant to be here. But at the same time, she couldn't help but miss the outside world, and the friends that she left behind. And most of all, she worried about one friend in particular. Ever since she had first arrived, she was aware of just what that friend was doing, and the knowledge gave her all the justification needed for her worrying.

When she asked her final favor, she hadn't realized just how seriously her friend would take it, just how lost he would feel upon her destruction. She knew that at this point, she couldn't do anything to stop him.

But someone else could.

"Riku, please! You have to stop him!" she shouted out, hoping that her voice could reach him. He was the only one who could stop her friend's rampage. And Riku did, but at a great cost. Realizing what had become of both him and her friend, the girl cried, and blamed herself for what had happened.

She continued cry, her anguish-filled tears falling down her face into the sand underneath her. She had felt sadness before, but never of this magnitude, for she could not see how the recent events were not her fault. So she continued to let the salty tears fall, not knowing what to do.

The girl did not know for how long she had cried, but suddenly she felt a sense of warmth, as if someone was giving her a comforting hug. The girl smiled at the gesture, knowing that he was instinctively trying to make her feel better. Even if he didn't know that she was there. Still, she wanted to be with her friend again. The desire to do so filled her up, even if she knew it was impossible.

"Roxas, don't be sad," the girl began. "I came from you and Sora. I am you, the same way that I am Sora. You may forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away. Memories of you and me will always be together, forever inside him," The girl felt a sad smile spread across her face. "But, all the same, I want to see you again. Even if it's just once."

Then, as if in response to the girl's words, a bright light appeared in the distance. The girl noticed it quickly, considering that it was nighttime on the beach. Then she realized that the light was growing larger. By the time it stopped, it had become a huge doorway made of light!

The girl looked on at the light-doorway, with an astonished look on her face. Then she wondered, "Is this, a second chance?" She knew that she would never get a chance like this again, but at the same time...

She looked towards the island behind her, his home. "Will you be okay?" she asked, not the island, but the one who's home it was to. "Even if I am gone?" She then felt a strange sensation, as if someone was telling her in words unheard, yes.

She smiled gently. "Okay, if you're sure," She began to walk towards the light, but not before saying, "Thank you for this chance, Sora."

And so, the girl, known as Xion, walked into the light. Afterwards, the light disappeared, leaving the island with but one hidden occupant, who simply smiled at this event, feeling that things were starting to look up.

* * *

**_NVZ_: So what did you think of the prologue? Yes, it is a 'Xion Lives' fic, but I always liked the concept of Xion having a second chance, waking up in the virtual Twilight Town and living with Roxas during his six days there. But, that will only be the prologue, I have a lot more planned down the road. Here's to hoping that I don't screw up with this story!**


	2. Ch 1: The First Day, Alive Again

**_NVZ_****: Here it is, the real Chapter 1! Now, I know that the previous chapter was rather short, but it's the prologue. I had to set up the story somehow. Now on to the big stuff, Xion's transition into the plot of Kingdom Hearts II. And believe me, you will surprised by the end of Virtual Twilight Town Arc.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY OTHER MATERIAL IN THIS FIC. THEY ALL BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. OTHERWISE I WOULD BE A MILLIONARE. **

**_NVZ_****: Also, thanks to the guy that beta'd this, Conceptualist! Now that that's out of the way, Enjoy!**

* * *

**_Chapter 1: The First Day, Alive Again_**

Twilight Town, as the name implies, is a town constantly bathed in twilight, and actually a nice place to live. Sure there are a few problems, consisting of the local bullies, or the Disciplinary Committee as they like to call themselves, and a few swarms of bees. But that is outweighed by the good things, like the local treat sea-salt ice cream, and the local game known as 'Struggle', but we'll get to that later. All in all, it was a good place to live as far as Roxas was concerned. But that day didn't really start out well for him.

Roxas was a young teen. His spiky blond hair, light-toned skin, and baby-blue eyes made him quite the bishounen. He wore a black vest, covered by a short white jacket, and complemented by his black and beige two-toned pants. His overall demeanor was that of just a regular guy, with a few personal problems.

It all started when Roxas went to the Usual Spot, where he and his three friends liked to hang out, only to find out that things were being stolen around town. Worse, he and his group were being blamed for it. After some arguing, they decided to find the real thief and clear their names, only to find that they had been robbed as well. What was stolen, was their ▬.

Quite literally, they could not even say what was stolen, for apparently the word was stolen as well! So Roxas and his friends ventured towards the Tram Common, the central part of town, to investigate. Though they first had to go to Market Street, the longer path, due to the fact that the Disciplinary Committee hung out in the Sandlot, which was the quicker way towards the Tram Common. The four didn't want a confrontation right now.

When Roxas exited the Back Alley and entered Market Street, he suddenly felt a strange sensation. This feeling caused him to look in the direction of the train station. Roxas couldn't understand what it was, but it felt like he needed to check it out.

"Roxas," the voice of his friend Hayner snapped him out of his stupor. "What are you doing, we're heading for the Tram Common." Hayner was a teen the same age as Roxas, with spiky blond hair, light skin, and brown eyes. His overall demeanor was that of a rebel.

"Oh, sorry," Roxas apologized. Though he looked towards the train station again, still feeling that sensation. "Um."

"Roxas?" Pence, his other friend, asked. "What's up?" Pence was a heavy set boy with light skin, brown eyes, and black hair, which was held up by a clack headband. He had a thing for mysteries and the supernatural.

"Are you feeling okay?" Olette, the lone female of the group, asked worriedly. Olette had bright green eyes, soft peach-colored skin, and shoulder-length brown hair. Of the four, she was the most level-headed.

"Well," Roxas looked towards his friends, then at the station again, before making his decision. "Sorry, I need to check out the station!" With that he went running in the direction of Station Plaza.

"Hey, Roxas!" Hayner called out, before he and the others followed.

* * *

When Roxas got to the plaza, he was quite surprised by what he saw. Lying on the ground in front of the station entrance was a person!

"Hey! Are you alright?" Roxas called out, before running towards the person on the ground. When he got there, he noticed that the person was on their side, so he rolled them face up. To his mild surprise, the person was a girl around his age, with light skin, and short black hair that framed her face. She was dressed in a sleeveless lilac shirt, and a sleeveless purple , thigh-length, hoodie. These were complimented by white short-shorts, fingerless white opera gloves, and black knee-socks. "C'mon, wake up!"

The girl's eyelids twitched a little, then slowly opened up, revealing her ocean-blue eyes to the world. "Huh?" She slowly got up into a sitting position, looked around, then looked at Roxas. Said boy sighed with relief that she was now awake.

"Thank goodness you're awake." Roxas exclaimed. "You alright?" The girl didn't respond, she just stared at Roxas. "Um, do you not understand?" Roxas was a bit nervous, considering that he wasn't sure what to do at the moment.

"Hey Roxas!" He was snapped out of the small staring contest with the girl when he heard Hayner's voice. He looked towards the entrance to the plaza and saw that his friends had caught up with him. "Okay, seriously! What is going on- huh?" Hayner stopped when he noticed the girl on the ground, who was still looking at Roxas.

"Who's this?" Pence asked, surprised by the new face.

"What are you doing here on the ground?" Olette asked gently.

"I found her unconscious here," Roxas answered for the girl. "Though she hasn't spoken yet, so I don't know what she's doing here."

"Really?" Hayner looked unconvinced. "You sure she's not your secret girlfriend or something?" he teased.

"What?! No!" Roxas denied. "I'd remember if I met her before, and you know it!" Roxas then looked a bit unsure. "Though, she does seem familiar."

"Roxas?"

Roxas turned towards the girl with surprise, for this was the first time she spoke. "Wait, what?"

"Roxas," the girl said again, this time with some sort of confirmation. "You are. Roxas."

"Um, yes, I'm Roxas," Roxas replied, confused by the girl's tone. "And, you are?"

"I am." The girl paused, as if she was thinking about what her answer should be. "...Xion."

"Oh, nice to meet you Xion." Roxas held out his hand to her. Xion stared at the hand. "Um, you shake it," Roxas explained. Xion didn't do anything for a few seconds, but then slowly grasped the hand and shook it. Roxas then pulled her up to her feet. He then pointed to each of his friends. "This is Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

Xion looked towards the three, and called them by their respective names. "Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

"Hey there," Pence greeted.

"What's up," Hayner followed.

"It's nice to meet you," Olette addressed politely.

Xion looked at them for a moment, then repeated, "Nice to meet you."

"So." Xion returned her attention to Roxas, who had spoken up. "Are you going to be okay now, Xion?"

Xion nodded her head. "I think so."

"Oh, good," Roxas then raised his hand. "Well, it was nice meeting you," Roxas then walked towards Market Street, his friends following after saying their respective farewells. Xion stood there for a moment, looking at Roxas's back. Then she followed the four out of the plaza.

* * *

When Roxas and his friends had made it halfway to the Tram Common, Roxas heard the sound of a twig breaking and turned around. To his surprise, there was Xion, following them.

"Roxas, what's wrong-huh, Xion?" Pence let out, surprised as well. The other two turned around at the name to see the very same girl from earlier.

"Hey, why are you following us?!" Hayner demanded, quite confrontational. "You got some kind of bone to pick?"

"Hayner, be nice!" Olette scolded, leaving Hayner a little sheepish. She then turned towards Xion with a smile on her face. "Is there something you needed, Xion? Are you new here?"

Xion was quiet for a moment. "I don't know."

"Oh," Olette sounded confused, then asked another question. "Well, what were you doing at the Station Plaza?"

"I don't know," Xion responded again. She held her hand up to her head. "I can't remember."

"What?!" Roxas gasped, the others showing their own forms of surprise. "Can you remember anything before that?"

"No," Xion said sullenly. "All I remember was waking up and meeting you guys."

"Um," Roxas didn't know what to say at this. "Hold on a sec!" He then huddled up with the other three. "What do you think this means?" He asked urgently.

"Maybe she was abducted by aliens who probed her brain or something?" Pence suggested, being the occult nut that he is.

"Dude, that only happens in Sci-Fi Films," Hayner countered.

"Maybe she has amnesia?" Olette brought up. "Studies prove that it can happen. And Xion is showing the symptoms for it."

"Oh c'mon!" Hayner said disbelievingly. "What are the chances of that being the case? For all we know, she's faking it."

"But what if Olette is right?" Roxas argued. "We can't just leave her on her own."

"Well, even if she does have amnesia, what can we do?" Hayner argued back. "We still have to look for that thief; we can't help her out at the same time."

"Well," Roxas thought for a few seconds. "I know! She can come with us while we look for the thief. While asking around about that, we can also ask around about Xion to see if anyone knows her!"

"I'm okay with that," Pence agreed. "Besides, this makes it a great mystery to be solved!"

"Yeah, while clearing our names is important, we should also focus on helping Xion," Olette said resolutely.

"Well," Hayner tried to find a counterargument, but couldn't. "Alright, fine! We'll bring her along with us."

"Great!" Roxas then went up to Xion, whom was still just standing there and had not heard their conversation. "You can come with us. We'll help you find your past, but we're also looking for a thief, so it could take a while. Is that okay with you?"

Xion was surprised by his kindness, but then smiled. "Yes, thank you."

* * *

Once Xion had joined them, they went about the Tram Common to find any clue to the mysterious thief, along with any information about Xion. Unfortunately, nearly everyone that Roxas tried to talk to would either just blame him for the theft, while not telling anything about what was stolen, or just not know anything about Xion. Eventually, the five teens found themselves in front of the Candy Shop, owned by an elderly woman that they had yet to talk to in Tram Common.

When they went up to talk to her, she had asked if they had seen her cat around. This lead to Roxas having to get said cat off of the sunroof hanging over the shop. Once they had returned the cat, they finally been able to get a conversation with someone without getting blamed for theft.

"Thank you, Roxas," The woman spoke in gratitude. "How could I repay you?"

"Well, there are two things I want to ask," Roxas requested. He then motioned towards Xion, who had stepped forward. "The first thing is, do you recognize this girl?"

The woman looked closely at Xion, but no look of recognition came to her eyes. "I'm sorry, Roxas, but I've never seen this young lady before in my life."

"Oh, I see," Roxas sighed. He then turned towards Xion. "Sorry, Xion. I don't think anyone here knows you."

"That's okay, Roxas," Xion smiled. "I'm just glad that you tried to help me."

"Yeah, I just wish that there was more I could have done." Roxas then turned towards the shopkeeper, who was waiting patiently. "Well, for my second question, did someone steal something from you, too?"

"Oh my, yes," The woman replied. "Something important."

"Just so you know, we didn't do it," Roxas said, trying to make things clear.

"I believe you," The woman replied truthfully.

"Thanks for that ma'am," Roxas spoke gratefully. "So what did they take from you?"

"My ▬," The woman replied. "My precious ▬."

"Looks like the culprit is going around stealing ▬," Hayner concluded.

"And not just ▬," Olette continued. "But the word ▬, as well."

"This isn't your average thief." Pence stated the obvious.

Olette pondered for a moment. "I wonder if Seifer knows anything about this?"

"Seifer? Who's that?" Xion asked in a confused tone.

"He's the head of the 'Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee'." Pence held his hands up to emphasize 'Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee'.

"Of course," Hayner continued. "Everyone knows that's just a front so that he and his gang can bully everybody around. And knowing him, he's the one that spread the rumor about us being the ones that stole the ▬."

"It doesn't matter," Roxas decided. "What does matter is that we gotta talk to him. C'mon, to the Sandlot!" With that declaration, the five ran off towards the Sandlot in the hopes of finding some sort of clue from Seifer and his gang.

When the five got to the Sandlot, they found Seifer's gang. The gang consisted of Rai, a tan-skinned bodybuilder with spiky black hair and black eyes, Fuu, a light-skinned older girl with red eyes, and Vivi, a short kid with a shadow-like face and a big, ripped up, wizard's hat.

"Thieves," Fuu monotonically said as she pointed towards them.

"That was low, y'know!" Rai exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? You guys are the ones who started that rumor!" Hayner argued.

"Nice comeback there, blondie," a confident voice called out. The teens turned towards the voice's direction, to find a teen with a sleeveless white duster, green eyes, blond hair hidden under a black beanie, and a strait scar running from his forehead to under his right eye. This was Seifer.

"What'd you just say?" Hayner demanded. Obviously the two didn't like each other much.

"You can give us back the ▬ now," Seifer demanded.

"Yeah!" Rai agreed. "You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?"

"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers," Seifer accused. Roxas glared at him the whole time, not noticing that Xion was doing the same. "So what did you do? Burn it?" Seifer had walked up in front of his gang during this monologue. "Ha, not that we need some ▬ to prove that you're losers."

"Replay." Fuu stated simply.

"Ha ha! Now you're talking!" Seifer laughed. Then, he, Rai, and Fuu got into combat positions. Roxas and Hayner responded in kind. "I guess if you get on your knees and beg, MAYBE I'll let it slide."

Roxas and Hayner growled at this, until Xion got in front of them with an angry look on her face. "I don't like you," she stated, her eyes showing her full displeasure.

"Huh," Seifer looked surprised at the newcomer. "Who's this, an outsider? Get out of my town!"

"She's no outsider," Roxas started, before getting in front of Xion, keeping Seifer's eyes on him. "She's my friend."

"You're friend, huh?" Seifer looked amused by Roxas's declaration, while Xion on the other hand was surprised. She and Roxas had only known each other for a good hour or so, yet he saw her as his friend? While she was confused by this, some part of her felt happiness and relief that Roxas considered his friend.

Roxas then kneeled down, catching everyone by surprise. The surprise only lasted until he grabbed a Struggle Bat that Seifer hadn't noticed, and got into a combat stance.

"Xion, get back!" Olette grabbed Xion and got to the sidelines with Hayner and Pence to avoid getting caught in the fight.

In Twilight Town, if there was one thing that the local kids loved to do, it was prove their strength and skill. This was usually done through fights using Struggle Bats. Usually these items were used for the local game 'Struggle', but they were also used for regular brawls in place of real swords in order to not seriously injure anyone.

"Roxas, focus!" Pence shouted out, bringing Roxas' attention back to the fight, as Seifer had also gotten himself a Struggle Bat to use and had suddenly rushed in! Roxas barely blocked, then fought back immediately.

"Come on, quit playing around and fight!" Seifer taunted. He had gotten a few hits in, but then Roxas managed to pull in a few combos as well. This repeated until Roxas got one final hit in, disarmed Seifer, and knocked him onto his but in front of the score board.

"Alright, Roxas!" Hayner whooped. Pence and Olette showed their own forms of congratulations, while Xion just smiled at Roxas's victory. Through all of this Seifer had a bitter look on his face, but knew that he had lost.

"S-Seifer's just saving his strength for the tournament, y'know!" Rai defended, as he and Fuu got in front of Seifer defensively. At this comment Roxas idly noticed the poster on the scoreboard, which held a picture of a Struggle Bat and the words STRUGGLE BATTLE. Obviously they were referring to the struggle tournament which would take place three days from then.

"Hey Roxas!" He turned his attention to Pence, who had taken out a camera to commemorate the event. Seifer tried to hide his face, but anyone who looked at the picture could tell that it was him by the beanie that he always wore. But right after Pence had taken the picture, a white blur came out of nowhere and took the camera!

"What was that?" Olette yelped.

"It took the camera!" Pence shouted with surprise all over his face.

"Must be the thief!" Hayner declared. "After him! He's heading for the Tram Common!" The five friends then ran after the thief and entered said part of town and soon started searching for it. "C'mon, which way did he go?"

Roxas searched as well, then spotted the thief heading towards the big crack in the wall, leading to the Woods. "He went that way! C'mon!" He soon started running after it.

"Roxas, wait!" Xion shouted, as she soon ran after him. What the two didn't know was that Hayner, Pence, and Olette hadn't followed them. In fact, they had stopped moving completely!

* * *

The two soon found themselves in front of the Old Mansion and right in front of the gate was the thief. What caught them by surprise was that the thief wasn't exactly human. It's appearance was similar to a silvery-white jump-suit, with a few zipper on its sides, and a big zipper right across what was presumably it's head. The head itself looked like a big helmet with a strange symbol resembling a splintered, upside-down heart.

"What the-?!" Roxas gasped, not expecting such an appearance.

"What is that?" Xion asked, surprised.

"I-I don't know!" Roxas stammered. He looked at the symbol, and felt that it looked familiar. Then all of a sudden a strange sound came out of the creature.

**_"We have come for you, my liege."_**

"What?" Roxas was confused. "Wait, what did you just call-" He couldn't finish his sentence due to the zipper on its head opening up, revealing its great maw of a mouth. Then the creature roared and went on the attack.

"Xion, get back!"

Roxas pushed Xion out of the way, while he went for the offensive against the creature. But when he swung his sword at it, the Struggle Bat just moved through it as if it wasn't even there. This caught Roxas by surprise, giving the creature enough time to attack and throw him onto his back. Roxas got back up wondering just what was going on, but put that aside and tried to continue the fight.

Throughout all of this, Xion watched and felt helpless. Roxas was doing all he could, but the creature just wouldn't take any hits. She wanted to do something to help. So, she ran towards the battle, and got in front of Roxas, who was once again on the ground.

"Leave him alone!" She yelled. She then, on instinct, held her right hand out, facing the creature. From there, one could only describe it as if a huge shard of ice flew from her hand towards the creature at high speed. The ice seemed to do the trick and threw the creature back, dealing some damage.

"What?" Roxas was now even more confused, but not as confused as Xion who had no idea how she had done that. Before she could contemplate it, the creature came back quickly and smacked her away. "Xion!" Roxas called out, worried about the girl who he had only known since earlier that day yet still considered a friend. Seeing her on the ground, he angrily got up to fight once more, but then another strange thing happened.

When he had gotten to his feet, his Struggle Bat seemed to be covered in what looked like computer coding. "What?" Roxas was surprised, but grew even more surprised when a flash of light covered the bat, and in its place was what appeared to be a giant skeleton key! It had a gold guard, a blue handle, a silver base and teeth, which seemed to form the outline of a crown, a silver chain, and a token made up of three circles(Hidden Mickey). "What is this thing?"

Xion, who was on the ground, saw the key and suddenly a word came from her lips that she didn't know that she knew. "Key...blade..."

"Keyblade?" Roxas heard Xion, feeling relief that she was alright, yet confused about what she had said. But he put that aside and got into his fighting stance. From there the battle went much more in Roxas's favor, for he was able to land solid hits. He also discovered a way to confuse the creature by pulling off a move which he called a Reversal. "Take this!" And with one more slash, Roxas managed to dispel the creature, causing it to explode into several into several lights.

Once the creature was gone, the Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light and data, just as it had came. He idly noticed that something had dropped from where the creature used to be, but his first priority was Xion. "Xion!" He called out and immediately ran to her side. "Are you okay?" He held out his hand to her.

Xion immediately took the hand and stood up. "Yes," She responded. "I think so, but what about you?"

"Me? I'm okay," Roxas dismissed. "Just a few scratches." He then laughed. Xion did not understand why, but soon joined him almost as if his laughter was contagious. She stopped when she noticed the dropped items.

"Hey, Roxas," Xion got his attention. "What are those?" Roxas noticed the items again and went to pick one up. The items were photographs.

* * *

After picking up all of the photographs, Roxas and Xion returned to the Usual Spot to show what they had found. On the way, the two had agreed to not mention the oddities of the incident such as the creature, the ice, or the keyblade. At this point the five teens were looking through the photographs, starting with one of Roxas and the Accessory Shop Owner in front of said shop.

"What's this?" Hayner asked.

"I was his first customer after he took over the shop," Roxas explained. "So we took a picture together."

"It's a really nice photo," Olette complimented. She then noticed what she had just said. "Oh...!"

"Hey!" Pence noticed as well. "You just said the word 'photo', Olette!"

"We got the word back!" Hayner exclaimed.

"So these are called photos?" Xion asked. "What does a photo do?"

"Huh?" Olette was confused by the question, but remember Xion's 'problem'. "Oh, well a photo is a picture that contains memories of what happened in it."

"While explaining things to our new amnesiac friend is nice," Hayner cut in. "We should get back to business. Roxas, Xion, tell us about the picture thief."

"Not much to say," Roxas replied, shaking his head. "The pictures were just lying there." He felt guilty about not telling the whole truth, but he knew that aside from Xion no one would believe him.

"But," Xion spoke up. "The thief did call Roxas something weird before he got away. I think it called him, 'My Liege'?"

"'My Liege'?" Olette repeated. "Did you know this person Roxas?"

"I don't think so," Roxas answered. "I didn't really get a good look at them."

"Well then how are we supposed to prove that we're not the ones who took them?" Hayner demanded.

"Hey, I've got it!" Pence declared, confusing everyone. "The thief was stalking Roxas!"

This statement got a lot more surprise, such as Roxas releasing a "WHAAAAAT!"

"No, it's true," Pence defended. "Just look at the pictures. Every single one has Roxas in them!" The other four then looked at the assembled pictures. Sure enough, every single picture had Roxas in it. Even the photo of Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette together was amongst the stolen pictures.

"Huh, I guess that's why everyone was thinking that it was us," Olette concluded.

"You mean Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?" Hayner asked.

"Shouldn't we be focused on the 'the thief was stalking Roxas' part?!" Roxas shouted incredulously.

"Sorry Roxas," Pence apologized. "But you've got to admit, this does make some sense to why we were blamed for this." Pence then thought of something. "But, wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas or something?"

"C'mon, be serious. Who would want to steal a bonehead like Roxas?" Hayner joked.

"Oh, thanks!" Roxas complained sarcastically. While he and the others laughed it off, Xion on the other hand suddenly latched onto Roxas for no apparent reason. "Um, Xion?" Roxas was confused. The girl seemed to be shaking.

"They're not taking Roxas!" Xion said resolutely. The others saw this and were surprised by her seriousness. Hayner then got a teasing smile on his face.

"Hey, Xion," Hayner got the girl's attention. "Why don't you be Roxas's bodyguard?" He ignored the other three's surprised faces and continued. "We obviously don't want Roxas to be taken away, and you need a place to stay. So why don't you move in with him?"

"Really?!" Xion asked excited. Roxas on the other hand looked nervous.

"Excuse us, Xion," Roxas got out of her grasp, then lead his other three friends into a huddle. "I can't take care of her, she's a girl!" He whispered. "Why can't she stay with Olette?"

"Well, my parents are still in town," Olette admitted. "And I'm not sure if I can just tell them that I'm letting an amnesiac girl stay with us."

"Same with me and Hayner," Pence explained. "Our parents wouldn't except it either. Besides, she seems rather attached to you."

"Yeah and didn't you say that your living alone in order to show to your parents that you can be independent?" Hayner accused.

"Well, uh," Roxas really couldn't find an excuse out of this. "All right. I'll do it," He then turned towards Xion, who's expression held confusion. "Xion, you're staying at my place. Is that okay with you?"

Xion's face seemed to brighten up at this. "Yes, thank you!" She gratefully smiled. Roxas was a bit embarrassed by this, but glad that he could help out his new friend. Then the sound of large bell went off, catching everyone by surprise. It was the bell-tower from the Train Station, indicating that it was late.

Once everyone had said their goodbyes for the day, they all headed towards their respective homes. Roxas took the time to guide Xion to his residence, in the town of eternal twilight.

* * *

_Restoration at 12%._

* * *

In a strange laboratory, with an advanced computer system, beheld a man in red. His face was covered in red bandages, except for his right amber eye, and he sat in a chair in front of said computer system. Another man walked up behind him, dressed in a black coat and hood, which hid his appearance. They were silent, until the man in red known as DiZ spoke.

"Organization miscreants. They've found us."

"But, why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" The man in black wondered aloud.

"Both are nothing but data to them," DiZ explained. "The fools could never tell the difference. I had to temporarily mute the word 'Photo' from the system, to ensure that they would never discover that difference. We are running out of time. Namine must make haste." One of the computers in front of him showed what appeared to be a life monitor.

The man in black behind him still had something to say. "What about that girl? The last I checked, the residents of your program shouldn't be able to cast magic, and that was most definitely a Freeze spell."

DiZ rubbed his chin. "I'm not certain what it is, but I intend to find out." He then looked through the program once more, to find out just what had changed in his system.

* * *

**_NVZ_: Well, that was Chapter 1! Now, I know that Xion is OOC right now, but there is a reason for that, but I can't give it away yet due to spoilers. Though I will give you a hint, it has to do with why DiZ and Unknown(Riku for those who have played the game) thought that she was just data at first. That's all I'm giving away. Also, the idea for Xion's outfit came from KH: Xion Casual Clothes(** kairikazu . deviantart art / KH-Xion-Casual-Clothes-373484979**) by kairikazu from Deviantart. As for the gloves and knee-socks, those were my, ahem, personal touches...PLEASE DON'T JUDGE ME! **

**Anyway, I'll say it right now, in this fic, Xion will not wield a Keyblade. **

**_Audience_: BOOOOOOOOO! **

**_NVZ_: You can 'Boo' at me all you want, but my decision is final! Though she still needs a weapon of some sort to defend herself, only it can't be a sword due to her current state of being. I want her to have a weapon that is unique from all other Kingdom Hearts Characters, well, during this fic at least. But don't worry, in any chance that I have a sequel for this story, I will have Xion gain the Keyblade, for the potential to use one is still there. **

**But for now, I will set up a poll on my profile to see what kind of weapon you would like to see her wield. Just send a PM for what you suggest, and I'll put it on the poll. The poll will end on August 30. Well anyway, Read &amp; Review!**


	3. Ch 2: The Second Day, Scattered Memories

_**NWZ**_**: Hello, Everyone! Here is Chapter 2 of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Rebirth! Now, I've noticed that not a lot of people are voting for what Xion's weapon will be, so I've decided that I will not show what weapon she will wield until after the Virtual Twilight Town arc. Also, for those of you asking if Roxas and Xion will live or not, that would spoilers now, wouldn't it?**

**But I digress, this chapter will not contain much action, considering that the second day was just a way to introduce the mini-games, but I shall add a twist of my own to this part of the arc. Anywho, on to the disclaimer! **

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY OTHER MATERIAL IN THIS FIC. THEY ALL BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. OTHERWISE I WOULD BE A MILLIONARE. **

**_NWZ_****: Alight then! And once again, thank you Conceptualist for Beta'ing this story. Now, enjoy!**

* * *

**_Chapter 2: The Second Day, Scattered Memories_**

Once again, Roxas dreamed of his life. Not Roxas' life, per say. The life that he dreamed of; it was Sora's life.

Roxas did not know when the dreams began, or why he dreamed about the life of a boy he didn't know. But the recent dreams about Sora were different from usual. The previous day, he had dreamed about Sora's life on his island home with his friends. But that life had changed forever, as his home had been swallowed by the darkness and Sora had been separated from his friends.

Tonight, Roxas dreamed of Sora's time in Traverse Town, the first world that Sora had experienced aside from his own. Sora had learned about the Heartless, along with their attack on other worlds. He had also learned of the Keyblade, the weapon that the Heartless feared, and that he was the only one who could wield it. Along the way, he had met Donald Duck, a duck mage, and Goofy, an anamorphic dog who wielded a shield. The three agreed to work together to fight the Heartless threat, along with finding each other's lost friends.

* * *

Afterwards, the dream went white, like usual, only for new images to appear. What was different about these images, though, was that Sora was not in them. Instead the images showed Roxas himself, dressed in a black coat and wielding Sora's Keyblade. Like the dreams about Sora, there were voices scattered all around.

_"The Keyblade, such a marvelous weapon."_

The scene switched to a white, round room, with thirteen occupied thrones. Roxas was in one of the thrones, as he watched another person in a black coat in the center of the room. The scene switched to that of Roxas himself in the center, hearing a voice in both instances.

_"Let us all welcome one of the Keyblade's chosen."_

The dream continued, this time showing Roxas and the coat-wearing figure in another room.

_"Number XIV's name is Xion."_

The scene switched to Roxas and the coated figure in the Sandlot. The figure then spoke in a familiar voice.

_"Roxas. Your name. It's Roxas, isn't it?"_

It changed again, this time to the two in the Back Alley; where the coated figure lowered her hood, revealing the face of a familiar girl.

_"Good luck to both of us today,"_ said a smiling Xion.

The dream continued, showing images of Roxas and Xion together. Mostly the two hung out on the clock tower eating ice cream, talking about random things. Others showed them in strange places. One image was of Roxas being knocked aside by a giant Heartless, only for Xion to summon a Keyblade to finish it off.

_"...I did not expect that,"_ Roxas' own voice sounded. The two then laughed together.

The next scene was not as light-hearted, for Xion admitted that she could not summon the Keyblade anymore. It switched to the two in a grand ballroom, where Xion handed a Keyblade to Roxas. Apparently Roxas lent his Keyblade to Xion in the hopes that she could remember how to summon her own. And it worked. Xion could summon the Keyblade once more.

The scene then switched to the two sitting on the clock tower once more.

_"A friend?"_ Xion asked. "_Do you think I could be a friend too?"_

_"Of course!"_ Roxas' voice responded. Xion smiled, then the dream faded to white.

* * *

Roxas jumped up from his slumber, looking around wildly. He then remembered that he was in his room, along with the events of the previous day. He looked at his right hand.

"A key, blade?" He questioned. He then wondered about the second half of the dream. What was with the white rooms, and how come Xion and him were dressed in black coats? It seemed so real, yet he knew that it had to be a dream. He then remembered that Xion was in his house. "I'd better check up on her."

With that said, Roxas got out of bed and changed clothes. He then went for the guestroom where Xion was sleeping, and knocked on the door. "Xion," Roxas called. "Are you up yet?" He then opened the door to find Xion still asleep in the bed, dressed in only a large shirt that went down to her knees. _'Why do I have that thing again?' _Roxas idly wondered. He then went to the bed and shook Xion with his hand. "Xion, wake up. You can't sleep all day."

Xion's eyes opened at those words. She then looked up at Roxas. "Roxas," She spoke. "I had a strange dream."

"Well, we can talk about it later," Roxas proposed. "Now, get changed.I'm going to make breakfast."

"Okay," Xion responded. She waited until Roxas left the room and closed the door before she started to take off the overly large shirt. "Why did Roxas tell me to always wait until he's out of the room before I change clothes, anyway?"

* * *

After Xion had changed into her outfit, she found Roxas in the kitchen, setting two plates down onto a table. Roxas then looked towards the amnesiac girl. "Well? Aren't you hungry, Xion?" Xion nodded her head and sat down at the table. She looked at her plate to see a simple plate of bacon, eggs, and buttered toast. She then began to eat. "So, how is it?" Roxas asked.

Xion swallowed down the piece of toast that she had bitten in to and replied, "It's great!"

"That's good," Roxas smiled. "So, tell me about this 'strange dream'. What was it about?"

Xion stopped eating to answer his question. "Well, I saw myself in a strange place, where everyone wore black coats. And you were there too, Roxas! And sometimes, we were on the clock-tower, here in Twilight Town, eating ice-cream!"

Roxas was surprised at this description, for it sounded a lot like the second half of his dream. "Was there anything else?" he asked intently.

"Well," Xion thought for a bit. "We were both wielding the Keyblade, but I lost it at one point. But then you helped me get it back!" Xion suddenly got quiet. "Still, I feel like that happened before. Were those memories?"

"I don't think so," Roxas denied. "It was probably just a dream. I mean, I've been in this town for as long as I can remember. And the only time I remember ever having the Keyblade was when I fought that thing." Roxas paused for a bit. "But, how did you know its name?"

"Huh?"

"The Keyblade," Roxas explained after seeing Xion's expression. "You knew what it was called when it came to my hand. How did you know that?"

Xion placed her hand against her head. "I don't know. Maybe it just came to me?"

"Hmm." Roxas wanted to ask more, but he didn't want to push the girl too much. "Let's not worry about it right now. Come on, eat your breakfast before it gets cold." With that, the two finished their breakfast, locked up the house, and then went on towards the Usual Spot.

* * *

When they had gotten to the Back Alley, Roxas spotted a stick on the ground. "A Keyblade," Roxas pondered. He then picked up the stick and swung it around like a sword.

"Roxas." Xion caught his attention. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, um, nothing Xion," Roxas excused hurriedly. "What was that about?" Roxas then threw the stick over his head[;] accidently hitting a man dressed a familiar black coat. "Oh!" The man looked in his and Xion's direction. He then walked off without saying anything. "Sorry, about that," Roxas replied weakly. He then recognized the coat.

"Hey wait! Where did you get that-?" Roxas ran after the man, only to see that he was long gone. Xion had followed Roxas, for she had also recognized the coat. The two were confused, but decided to think about it later and continue to their original destination.

* * *

When they entered the Usual Spot, Hayner and the others gave them each an ice-cream bar, sea-salt flavored. When Xion tried it, she said that the taste was familiar. When the others asked if she remembered anything else, she replied that she couldn't. Though she did look at Roxas when she mentioned that the taste was familiar. The blond realized that she was probably referring to the dream, but didn't say anything about it.

"Hey," Pence suddenly spoke. "Do you guys think that we'll always be together like this?"

"I sure hope so," Olette replied.

"Huh?" Hayner let out intelligently. "Where did _that_ come from?"

"Oh, um, y'know," Pence replied uncertainly. "Just thinking out loud."

"Well, I doubt that we can be together forever," Hayner explained. "But isn't that what growing up is about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?" Xion lightly gasped. For some reason, she felt like she had heard those last few words before.

Pence laughed. "Get that off a fortune cookie?" he joked.

"That's it, no more ice cream for you!" Hayner replied angrily. "Man, today is turning out to be a drag."

"Maybe it's because of yesterday's memory thief?" Olette suggested.

"Nope, y'know what it is?" Hayner asked rhetorically. "We don't want summer vacation to be over, that's all." He then sat up. "So how about this? We all go to the beach!" That statement caught everyone by surprise, especially Olette.

"What?! What about our homework?" Olette asked incredulously. "We agreed that'd we do it today!"

"We'll do it later. Later!" Hayner brushed off. "We haven't been to the beach all summer and we can't give up a chance because of something stupid like homework!"

"'Let's go to the beach'?" Xion spoke, surprising the others due to her silence throughout the conversation. She looked as if she was concentrating on something.

"Xion?" Roxas was concerned when he saw the look on Xion's face. Xion gasped in surprise and stood up.

"I remember!" she exclaimed. "A friend of mine told me, 'On our next day off, let's all go to the beach'!"

"Really?" Roxas and the others were shocked at this, for they didn't have any clues towards Xion's past up to this point. "Do you remember who told you this?"

"No," Xion's head dropped at this, but came back up seconds later. "But I'm sure that we planned to go to the beach together."

"And there's another reason for us to go!" Hayner declared. "If Xion has been to the beach before, then maybe we can find some clues to her past there as well!" Olette could not really find an argument to this. Roxas, on the other hand, did see one problem.

"Hayner," he said. "Maybe you've forgotten, but we're broke. And I can't use the funds for my parents outside of necessities for my living arrangements."

"Maybe you forgot, I'm smart!" Hayner fired back. "Don't worry, I've got it covered. Follow me!" He then ran out of the Usual Spot. The others followed after a bit of uncertainty. Roxas was thinking about what they had just learned.

_"Xion might have been to the beach before. Maybe this trip will do some good for her memory."_ Roxas and the others found Hayner in Market Street, standing in front of a familiar poster. "Hey, isn't that a poster for the Struggle Tournament?" Roxas wondered. The five teens gathered in front of the poster.

"Yep," Hayner answered. "Just two days to go!"

"'Struggle'? What's that?" Xion asked.

"Huh? Oh that's right." Roxas turned towards Xion. "Well, remember how me and Seifer fought yesterday?" At Xion's confirmation, Roxas continued. "Well, think of it like that, but each of us are carrying 100 orbs on us each. Whenever we get hit, we drop a number of orbs. The goal is to get as many orbs from your opponent before time runs out. The winner is decided by who has the most orbs, or by a knockout. You got all of that?"

"Yes, I got it." Xion had another question though. "But what's a tournament?"

"That's where a lot of people compete to see who's the best at Struggle," Hayner explained. "It's decided by several matches. The winner of each match fights the winner of a different match. This continues until the Finals. Whoever wins that gets two prizes; the Four-Crystal Trophy and a chance to take on the Reigning Champion, Setzer!"

"Wow," Xion was amazed. "Are you two going to fight in this tournament?"

"Of course," Roxas answered. "We've been training for this for a long time."

"Roxas," Hayner grabbed his attention. "You and I have to make the Finals. That way, no matter who wins, we all split the prize."

"You two are going to clean up!" Pence encouraged.

"Go get 'em!" Olette cheered.

"It's a promise!" Hayner declared. "Now, let's get down to business. One ticket to the beach is 900 munny. How much for the five of us?"

"4500 munny," Olette answered.

"And 300 each to spend there," Hayner calculated. "What's that for all of us?"

"1500 money," Olette answered again. "A total of 6000 munny."

"To spend on what?" Roxas asked.

"Pretzels, of course! What else is there?" Hayner questioned.

"Well, there's always watermelon," Roxas offered.

"Too pricy," Hayner rejected. "They're around 2000 munny apiece."

Roxas was quiet for a few seconds before he answered. "Pretzels it is."

Hayner nodded his head at that. "So where were we?"

"We need 6000 munny altogether," Olette reminded him. "But all we have is..."

"I have 800," Pence counted.

"...650," Olette shared.

"I've got around 1000," Hayner offered.

"150. Sorry," Roxas apologized.

"I don't have any," Xion looked downcast.

"Don't worry about it!" Hayner tried to cheer her up. "Right now we have 2600 munny! We just need another 3400."

"Make that 4050," Olette corrected. The boys looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Seeing their confusion, she elaborated. "Okay, everyone who owns a swimsuit, raise your hand!" Only Xion did not raise her hand.

"What's a swimsuit?" the amnesiac girl asked. The boys looked sheepish at this question.

"Don't worry, Xion," Olette assured. "I'll help you buy a swimsuit, while the boys take care of the rest."

"Well, I guess that'll have to do," Hayner conceded. "This is for Xion's sake too. Okay, Pence, Roxas, while Olette helps Xion get a swimsuit, let's find ourselves some odd jobs and earn some dough! We have till the train leaves to earn 1350 munny each." He then ran off in search for offers. "Meet at the station with cash in hand!" he yelled back to them.

"Didn't he say he had it covered?" Pence questioned.

"Whatever," Roxas dismissed. "Those pretzels are sounding pretty good. And we've got to find any lead we can for Xion." He then turned towards the girl in question. "Right?"

"Thank you Roxas," Xion said. After a bit more chatter, Xion went with Olette to the shopping center while Roxas and Pence went to find a job list.

* * *

After a good hour of working the different odd jobs around town, the boys managed to earn enough munny for the trip. In that same time the girls managed to find a swimsuit for Xion. Xion wanted to show what it looked like to Roxas, but Olette told her to keep it secret till they got to the beach. Xion didn't understand why, but she agreed with the other girl's judgment.

Once everyone had finished their assigned jobs, they all met up at the Station Plaza to count out the earnings. "Nice work guys," Olette congratulated. "Adding to what we had when we started, we now have." She then pulled out an orange pouch which they put all of the munny into. "Ta-da! 6000 munny!"

"Sweet!" Hayner exclaimed. The other two boys just clapped in their own mini-celebration. "I'm touched. Can you please allow me to feel how heavy that pouch is-"

"Roxas, hold onto this," Olette cut Hayner off as she handed the pouch to Roxas. "Don't let Hayner touch it." The boy in question shouted indignantly. "Let's get tickets before the train leaves," Olette declared before she ran towards the Station entrance, Pence following not too far behind.

Hayner had calmed down by this point and stood still for a moment. "We can't be together forever," He said with eyes downcast, only to smile as he continued. "So we'd better make the time we do have something to remember." Roxas was confused by his friend's statement, only to be caught by surprise a moment later. "Gotcha!" Hayner then ran towards the entrance by himself.

"Roxas." Said boy turned towards Xion, who was smiling. "Thank you for doing this."

"No problem," he responded. The two then started walking towards the entrance themselves, only for Roxas to fall behind. Xion looked around in surprise at the sound of Roxas falling and espied a very familiar stick. It was then followed by a man in a familiar black coat grabbing Roxas by his left arm. Going by his build, it was the same man from earlier that day.

"Can you feel Sora?" The man asked in a deep voice.

"Roxas!" Xion cried out. The man turned towards her, confused. Now that Xion got a look at him, she felt as if she had met him somewhere before.

"Roxas! Xion! Three minutes!" Hayner's voice cried out. The two turned towards Hayner's direction to see their friends just staring at them. It was then that they realized that the man in black had disappeared. The two were confused but didn't have the time to contemplate it, so they simply ran into the station.

* * *

Minutes later, instead of being on the train for the beach, the five friends found themselves on the top of the station's clock tower, eating ice cream. Apparently, the pouch containing all of their munny had been stolen! Roxas and Xion suspected the man in black, but from what their friends told them, there was no man in black. They thought that Roxas just tripped and lost it. Either way, without the money, they couldn't make it to the beach. So they instead went to the clock tower to have consolation ice cream.

Roxas was feeling depressed and hadn't eaten even one bite. "It's melting," Olette informed.

"Sorry," Roxas apologized.

"It's okay," Xion assured. "To tell the truth, I don't think that my friend and I actually ever made it to the beach."

"So that wouldn't have helped after all," Hayner clarified.

"Still," Xion looked towards the sunset. "This view certainly feels familiar. I feel like I've watched the sun set hundreds of times before."

"Huh, I guess that means that things didn't turn out all bad," Roxas contemplated.

"That was certainly weird though," Pence stated.

"You said it," Olette agreed.

Roxas was silent for a moment before quietly saying: "Can you feel Sora?"

* * *

_Restoration at 28%_

"Namine," DiZ's voice called out. "Hurry!"

* * *

The scene once again comes upon DiZ and the man in black within the laboratory. The man in black was currently throwing the pouch that he had taken from Roxas up and down in his hand. "Is it really that hard to make a beach?" He asked dryly.

"Expanding the area would give the enemy another entry point," DiZ explained.

"And this?" The man referred to the pouch which he had stolen.

DiZ turned towards the other man. "We could always buy some sea-salt ice cream." He then laughed rather emptily. "Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world. You can delete that."

The man hid the pouch within his coat. "So what have you learned about the girl?" The man questioned.

DiZ stiffened at this question. "...I am uncertain." At the other man's silence, he explained further. "I have run multiple scans on the girl, but the system is confused. For some reason it recognizes her as both a program and someone from the real world."

"How is that possible?" The man asked, masking his surprise easily.

"I don't know," DiZ admitted. "I have never come across such an enigma before."

"Perhaps I have," The man suggested. DiZ looked surprised at the other man's suggestion. The man explained. "When I saw that girl, Xion, I recognized her. No, it's more than that. The moment I looked at her face, it was as if memories that disappeared just suddenly returned to me."

"Are you suggesting that Namine had something to do with this?" DiZ questioned.

"I'm not sure, but it would be a good idea to ask her about Xion." The scene fades after a look at a strange device.

* * *

**_NVZ_: So what did you think? Now I know that it doesn't seem to have changed much, and that it is rather short, but the major changes will happen next chapter, I promise. Though I won't be able to update much due to school starting, so it could take a while. Anyway, please Read &amp; Review.**


	4. Ch 3: The Third Day, Riku and Naminé

_**NWZ**_**: Sorry for the wait, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Here we are. Chapter 3. And the poll is officially closed. As for Xion's weapon, I will not reveal it until after this arc, as said before. Now, I'm sorry that last chapter wasn't really long, but I really didn't want to do the scene inside the station for one simple reason, I didn't like the fact that no one believed Roxas and the scene itself just felt disheartening. **

**But I digress, this chapter is where things get shaken up quite a bit. Also, I will try to have it mostly from Xion's POV. Now on with the disclaimer! **

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, OR ANY OTHER MATERIAL IN THIS FIC. THEY ALL BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. OTHERWISE I WOULD BE A MILLIONARE. **

_**NVZ**_**: Okay! And thanks once again for Beta'ing this, Concep. **

**_Conceptualist_****: You're welcome!**

**_NVZ_****: Enjoy!**

* * *

**_Chapter 3: The Third Day, Riku and Naminé_**

Once again, she dreamed of people in black coats. But this dream, Xion noticed, was not as happy as the one from the previous night.

For one thing, the dream started out dark and rainy, a clear indicator that the dream would not be cheerful. Xion herself was on the ground, defeated by a tall assailant dressed in the same black coat as herself. The assailant possessed long silver hair, his eyes hidden by a black blindfold. The assailant walked over to the downed Xion and removed her hood. He then partially removed his blindfold and revealed an aquamarine eye which beheld the girl's face. Surprised did not even begin to describe his expression, as he soon replaced his blindfold and backed away.

_"Your face?!"_ he spoke, revealing him to be a boy not too much older than her. _"Who are you really? And why do you have a Keyblade?" _

Xion struggled up on her hands, having replaced her hood. _"Tell me first, why you are dressed as one of us,"_ she demanded. The boy didn't answer at first, he instead walked towards the Keyblade which he nocked away from her.

_"To make sure my best friend sleeps in peace,"_ he finally said. He then picked up Xion's Keyblade. _"I don't know who you're supposed to be."_ He shortly examined the Keyblade. _"But you can't fight fire with sparks. This Keyblade, it's a sham-"_ he threw the weapon towards the girl as he finished, _"Worthless."_ The key landed in front of Xion with a dull, sad tone.

_"My Keyblade is not a sham!"_ she exclaimed, her voice raised in anger. How dare he mock the weapon which her friends helped her reclaim! _"What gives you the right to say that?!"_ She then picked up her weapon and rushed towards the boy with determination. The boy simply maneuvered around Xion and hit her in the back, knocking her to the ground once more. The Keyblade disappeared shortly after.

_"Find a new crowd,"_ the boy advised. _"Trust me. Those guys are bad news."_ With that said, the boy walked off. But Xion wasn't letting him get away without one final retort.

_"Why? You're the real sham,"_ she said resignedly. Xion was filled with shame at having failed to defeat the boy. She felt even worse at what he said next.

_"Fair enough,"_ he answered. _"You could say I am the biggest nobody of them all."_ He walked away, with his back turned towards Xion. Once he was gone, the girl let out an anguish filled scream, water streaming down her face.

* * *

The dream changed, and quite drastically at that. Xion's eyes opened to find herself on a warm island surrounded by water, with a few palm trees scattered about. When she looked up, she gasped at the sight of a familiar face. _"Are you...?"_ she trailed off.

_"Riku,"_ the boy from the previous dream answered. _"Sora's friend."_

_"Sora?"_ Xion sat up and looked into Riku's blindfold. _"You know Sora?"_

_"Yeah,"_ he replied as he got to his feet. He then held out his hand, which Xion took, and pulled her to her feet.

_"Thank you,"_ Xion was grateful, but confused. _"You saved me, but I don't know why you did."_

_"I guess,"_ Riku hesitated, then walked behind Xion. _"I just felt like it."_

Xion then faced him resolutely. _"Riku, please..."_ Xion built up her confidence. _"Tell me more about Sora and that girl he's always with."_ Riku stopped in his tracks at this question. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

_"You mean Kairi."_ It wasn't a question.

_"Kairi,"_ Xion repeated. She then held her hand to her head, as if she had a headache. _"That's right. She's the one who looks so much like me."_

_"To Sora, she's someone very special,"_ Riku elaborated as he walked up to Xion.

_"It's just, I remember things about the two of them."_ Xion walked towards one of the palm trees as she spoke. _"But I'm nothing more than a ******, something that somebody *******."_ The words were blanked out for some reason. She then placed her hand against the tree to support herself. _"So why would I have their memories?"_ She looked towards Riku again. _"Do you know where Sora is now?"_

_"That secret stays with me,"_ he replied coldly. Xion looked down sadly.

_"Why's that?"_ She asked.

_"Xion,"_ Riku sounded hesitant once more. _"Your memories. They really belong to Sora."_ The girl's head lifted in surprise.

_"So you mean, I'm like a part of him?"_ Xion asked in wonderment.

_"When his memories were scattered,"_ Riku explained as he walked up to Xion. _"Some of them found their way inside you."_ The girl lowered her head in shame upon this realization. _"Now, Sora has been put to sleep so that we can piece together his memory. Except..."_

_"You can't, because part of it inside of me,"_ Xion finished for him._ "That means he can't wake up."_

_"Yeah,"_ Riku confirmed. _"You got it. But, if you go with me to Sora right now, we could give the memories inside you back to him."_

_"So, do you hate me for taking your friend away from you?"_ Xion asked scornfully, glaring at him. Considering how their last meeting went, she wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. She was surprised at his answer though.

_"Nah. I guess, I'm just sad,"_ Riku admitted. Xion's eyes widened at the response, but she then lowered her head in shame.

_"I'm sorry,"_ she muttered. _"But I can't go with you. It's my friends,"_ She looked at her hand then clenched it. _"They need me. And I need them too."_ She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Riku's face.

_"Maybe you should take some time and think about it,"_ he suggested. _"Figure out who really needs you more, and where you belong." _

_"How will I know?"_ Xion asked softly. _"Where I truly belong?"_ She looked down sadly again. _"I'm not sure I can promise you I'll come up with the right answer."_

_"Well, the answer you come up with can't just be right for you,"_ Riku explained. _"It has to be one that works best for everybody. For you and your friends, and everyone else."_ He then walked away.

_"I'll try,"_ Xion said resolutely. She looked up and smiled. _"Thank you, Riku."_

* * *

"Xion," a voice echoed in her head. "Xion, wake up!" The girl's eyes opened to see Roxas' worried face. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Xion replied slowly. "Why?"

"Well," Roxas placed his index finger on his cheek. Xion copied the motion and discovered that her own cheek was wet.

"That's weird." Xion then placed her hand on her chest. "I feel a tight squeezing inside. Why?"

Roxas then sat down next to her on the bed. "Xion, did you have a nightmare?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Xion answered. "Though, it started out pretty bad at first, it got better in the end. Still, why does my chest hurt, and why are my cheeks wet?"

"Well, I don't know why your chest hurts," Roxas answered honestly. "As for your cheeks, they're probably wet because you've been crying."

"Crying? What's that?" Xion asked, confused with the term. She grew even more confused when Roxas' eyes seemed to have popped out in alarm.

"Um, that is-!" Roxas eventually calmed down enough to explain. "Well, crying is when water, called tears, comes out from your eyes, and that only happens when you feel really happy or really sad."

"When I'm really sad," Xion repeated. So the pain in her chest was because she was sad. The two teens were quiet for a moment before Xion spoke up again. "Roxas, am I a sham? Am I worthless?"

"What?!" Roxas shouted. He suddenly grabbed Xion's shoulders, surprising her. "Why would you even think that?! You're not worthless and you're not a sham!" Xion just looked at Roxas wide-eyed as the boy calmed down. "You're you, nobody else. You got that memorized, Xion?"

Xion was quiet for a moment before a smile came to her face. "Thank you Roxas. That means a lot to me." Roxas' face turned red all over at this expression and quickly got off the bed.

"U-um, I'm going to make breakfast! You get dressed! See you at the table!" he said while quickly vacating the room. Xion was confused at this action, but decided to let it pass. She had other things to think about.

"Riku and Sora," she contemplated. "Who are you?"

* * *

After they had finished their morning rituals, Xion and Roxas left the house and headed out to the Usual Spot. But when the two arrived, no one else was there.

"Where is everybody?" Xion asked. This was the first time she had come to the Usual Spot and Hayner, Pence and Olette were not there.

"Good question," Roxas replied. He then spotted a piece of paper on Hayner's seat and picked it up.

"What's that?" Xion implored.

"It's a note from Hayner," Roxas answered. He read it over twice to make sure of what he read. "It says that we're going to the beach today!"

"Really?!" Xion was surprised. "But what about the munny?"

"Hayner says not to worry about it," Roxas contemplated. "But how would he be able to get his hands on 6,000 munny in only a day?" The two friends were stumped.

"Why don't we go to the station and ask him?" Xion suggested. "It's not like we have anything else planned."

"But what about the search for your past?" Roxas argued. "We can't just abandon that."

"I know that," Xion responded. "But while my friends and I never got to go on a trip to the beach, I may have seen it at least once. Maybe we can still find some clues!"

"Well, okay," Roxas surrendered. "But we need to confirm this with Hayner first, okay?"

"Okay!" Xion then grabbed Roxas' arm and ran out with him. "Let's go!"

"Xion, let go of my arm!"

* * *

Eventually, Roxas managed to free himself and the two walked to the station like normal people. Along the way, they ran into Pence and Olette, who were both carrying beach supplies.

"Ah, Roxas, Xion," Olette greeted. "Did you see the note? Hayner says that he got 6,000 munny from his uncle."

"So it's true? We're really going to the beach today?" Xion asked.

"Yup!" Pence responded. "No joke!"

"That's great!" Roxas exclaimed. Xion smiled at his enthusiasm, but she looked towards Pence and Olette when she didn't hear them speak after ten seconds. She then noticed that they weren't doing _anything_.

"Pence, Olette, what's wrong?" She tapped Pence on the shoulder, only for him to fall to the ground, as if he were a statue. She jumped back in surprise.

"What the?" Roxas was equally surprised at this event. What happened to his friends.

"Hello Roxas. Xion," a new voice called out from behind the two friends. They quickly turned around to find a girl with blonde hair and a white sundress standing behind them. But what caught them by surprise was the fact that the girl's face looked identical to Xion's! To say that the two friends were surprised were an understatement.

The girl walked up to the two, or more specifically, Xion. "Xion," the girl began, before suddenly wrapping her arms around Xion, catching her by surprise. "I'm glad that I'm able to meet you again."

"Eh?" Xion didn't know what the girl was doing but it gave her a pleasant feeling. It was similar to when Roxas told her that she was her own person, but still somewhat different.

"Wait, again?!" Roxas' voice snapped Xion out of her small trance. The other girl had let go of Xion and backed up in front of the two once more. "You know Xion?!"

The girl was silent for a moment before she finally spoke again. "Come to the old mansion," she said as she walked to the Tram Common. "If you come, I'll tell you what you want to know." At this point the girl was much closer to the Tram Common entrance then she was merely a second ago, much to the two friends' surprise.

"Hey, wait!" Roxas soon ran in the girl's direction.

"Roxas, wait up!" Xion soon followed. Although, neither of the two noticed that Pence and Olette had unfrozen when the girl disappeared. Nor did they notice Pence's confusion as to how he landed on the floor.

* * *

Roxas and Xion had ran through the Tram Common in pursuit of the mysterious girl and eventually found themselves in The Woods. Right now they stopped running in order to rest.

"Roxas," Xion finally spoke up after they left Market Street. "Do you think that girl really knows me?"

"I don't know what else to say," Roxas admitted. "But I've never seen her in town before, so she's not a local. Not to mention the fact that she knew your name and hugged you."

"But she knew your name too," Xion pointed out. "And what does 'hugged' mean?"

"Um." Before Roxas could give an answer, a black portal appeared right in front of the two. The two were surprised by this phenomenon, but they were even more surprised when they saw a familiar white figure appear from within the portal.

"Hey, it's the photo thief!" Xion exclaimed. Though she did not know how that could be possible, for she was sure that she and Roxas destroyed it two days ago. Apparently the photo thief had a lot of friends, for more white creatures appeared from even more portals. The first one to appear then grabbed for Roxas' wrist.

"Let me go!" Roxas shouted before grabbing Xion and running out of the forest, the girl not even complaining at the notion.

* * *

The two friends ran into the Sandlot, looking back to see if they lost the white creatures. Before they could sigh from the relief of not seeing the creatures, a familiar yet unpleasant voice got their attention.

"Hey, chicken-wuss!" Seifer yelled out arrogantly. "Out for a jog?!" Seifer and his gang were also in the Sandlot, and they were apparently going through a training regimen of some sort.

"I'm kinda busy, Seifer!" Roxas retaliated. "Can't you lay off for one day-!"

"AHH!" Everyone looked towards Xion at her scream, only to discover that the white creatures had entered the Sandlot!

"Xion!" Roxas instantly moved to defend his friend.

"What the!?" "What are-?!" Rai and Fuu, respectively, let out. Vivi quickly ran towards a good hiding spot. Of the gang, only Seifer stayed calm enough to react.

"What are you doing?! Fight!" At this command, Rai and Fuu quickly got a hold of themselves and jumped into action. "I don't know what these things are, but they've crossed the line! No outsider attacks anyone in my town!" Seifer declared as he got out two Struggle Bats, only to throw one to Roxas. "Chicken-wuss, here!" Roxas quickly grabbed the Bat and got into his fighting pose. Xion instinctively got into a defensive stance, not wanting to be left out, and everyone fought against the creatures.

Or at least they tried. As Roxas and Xion had proven back in front of the mansion, none of their attacks could even hit the creatures, though it was not the same vice-versa. Self to say, Roxas's Struggle Bat was proving to be useless for this fight. "Argh! It's no use!" Roxas complained. "If only I had the Keyblade!" Xion could understand his frustration, for it seemed that the Keyblade was the only thing that could harm the creatures.

_"Wait,"_ she thought. _"Didn't something else harm these things?"_ It was then she remembered back at the mansion, how she somehow summoned a large shard of ice and shot it at the creature, actually hurting it. _"But how did I do that? C'mon, think Xion!"_ She then thought back to the dreams, while quickly dodging another creature's attacks. She remembered how in the dreams with Roxas, she would use the same ability. _"Magic,"_ she mentally corrected. _"Magic usually requires the caster to want something. And in this case, I want to use that ice spell again. And in order to do that, I simply want them to-"_

Now knowing what to do, she put her right hand in front of her and called out "Freeze!" Once again, a large shard of ice shot from her hand towards the creature, knocking it towards its fellows and covering a few of them in frostbite. Xion was not expecting that last part, but she welcomed it.

"X- Xion!" Said girl snapped her attention towards Roxas, who was looking at her wide-eyed. "You did that ice-thing again!"

"U-um, it's not an 'ice-thing' Roxas, it's magic," the girl hastily explained. She then looked behind Roxas to see a startling sight. "Roxas! Something's wrong with Seifer and the others!"

"What?" The boy looked in the same direction as Xion and quickly noticed what was wrong. While Seifer and his gang were still surrounded by the creatures, they weren't moving to retaliate. In fact, they weren't moving at all! "Frozen. Just like Pence and Olette earlier!" It was then that the creatures surrounding Seifer's gang started to move towards Roxas and Xion, along with the two that Xion knocked down.

"Roxas! Use the Keyblade!" A familiar voice called out. The two friends were surprised by the voice and quickly looked towards the source, only to spot the blonde girl from earlier standing on one of the rooftops surrounding the sandlot. Though this move proved to be a bad idea, for while they were distracted all of the creatures pounced towards Roxas. However, Xion noticed just in time to react.

"Roxas!" she called out as she raced towards him. She barely had seconds before the creatures reached him. And right when her fingers had barely brushed against him, everything blacked out.

* * *

"Oomph!" Xion landed roughly on to the ground. For a moment she just laid there in pain. That is, until she remembered what just happened. "Roxas!" She quickly got up and opened her eyes, but what she saw next was not what she expected.

Nothing. Literally, nothing. Nothing but the color black spreading as far as she could see. Oh wait, it wasn't completely nothing, as she spotted white zeroes and ones going around in a few random places. To say that she was spooked would be an understatement. "Roxas!" She called out. "Are you there?! Hayner! Pence! Olette! Is anyone else here?!" No other voices replied, except for her own echoes. She eventually decided to stop waiting around and walked in one random direction in the hopes of finding someone, anyone else.

_(Some time later)_

She didn't know how long she was in this place, but at this point Xion was starting to run out of hope. "Where is everyone?" She started to think some depressing thoughts. "Is this where shams go?"

Suddenly, a stream of zeroes and ones appeared in front of her. This certainly got her out of her small depression, and eventually led to curiosity. "I wonder what these do?" Eventually her curiosity won her over and she decided to touch the stream of zeroes and ones in front of her. The moment she did so, the stream converged into one small mass in front of her, catching her by surprise. After the mass had completely collected, it formed into a square shape. Then, the shape became solid and fell to the floor.

Once Xion got over this strange phenomena, she picked up the object that had used to be numbers and inspected it further. She soon noticed that the object was a book, and that the letters 'XIII' was on the cover. She pondered what the book was before opening it to the first page. On the inside name of the cover, she found a familiar name.

"Roxas! Does this belong to him?" She decided to ask him once she met up with him again, and so pocketed the book for now. Right when she was wondering where she should go next, she heard a sound coming from her left. When she heard the sound a second time she ran in that direction as fast as she could. If there was some sort of sound in this place then that meant there was another person here.

As she continued to run, the sounds continued to grow louder and a small speck of light was seen in the distance. As she got closer, the light grew even bigger to reveal the image of a familiar boy wielding a Keyblade. "Roxas!" Xion yelled as she reached for the image. The moment she touched it the scenery changed once again. Only this time she was on a surface that wasn't black. She would have looked at the changed surface more if she weren't preoccupied with the boy floating in the air above her. "Roxas! Are you okay?!" Xion called out.

"Xion!? What are you-?" Roxas looked quite surprised to see the girl but quickly shook it off. "Never mind, get out of here! It's dangerous!" Xion didn't know what he was talking about until she noticed the large shadow that fell over her. She looked towards the base of the shadow to find a giant, bulked up, and scarf-wearing version of the white creatures that attacked them earlier. When the creature noticed her it launched a fist that could have seriously hurt her if she hadn't dodged out of the way in time. "Xion!" Roxas called out desperately.

The girl in question was currently thinking of how to get out of her predicament when she remembered that she had magic. "Freeze!" she called out, shooting a shard of ice at the giant creature and dealing a bit of damage. It obviously wasn't enough considering that it just swiped her to the side of the platform. It then changed targets to Roxas.

Right when its fist got close to him, Roxas miraculously dodged out of the way and struck it back with his Keyblade. This only caused the creature to grab the boy and throw him into the air in the hopes of striking him while he couldn't move properly. Thankfully Roxas overcame this problem as well and struck the creature's fist, propelling himself into the creature's face and knocking it off of the platform. Thinking that it was finally safe, he ran over to check up on Xion. "Are you okay?!"

"Ugh, I think so," she responded as Roxas helped her up. The two didn't stay up long considering that the platform began to shake, eventually turning on its side and causing the two to fall near the edge. Luckily, Roxas managed to plunge his Keyblade into the side and grabbed Xion's hand, keeping the duo from falling to their deaths. Unfortunately for them the creature was grasping on to the side of the platform while carrying a huge ball of energy.

The creature launched itself off of the platform, causing it to turn over. This caused the Keyblade to dislodge from it and in turn throwing Roxas and Xion towards the orb of energy. Xion was obviously scared, but her body acted on instinct and leaped up much higher than before to avoid the danger. The same must have happened to Roxas, for he was at the exact same height as her. He then took advantage of this to throw the Keyblade at the orb, causing it to explode and send all three combatants to the face of the platform. Roxas and Xion quickly recovered, while the creature appeared to be stunned.

"Hit it now!" Roxas called out, leading to the two friends to throw all they can at the creature, Roxas' Keyblade strikes and Xion's Freeze magic. Eventually the creature got back up to its feet, causing the two to back off into defensive stances, though they needn't have bothered.

The creature began to shake as if it were convulsing and soon started to waver around. Xion idly noticed that Roxas' Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light before they both fell onto their backs. The creature eventually fell right on top of them, then all they knew was darkness.

* * *

Xion didn't know how long she struggled in the darkness, but she then felt a hand grab her own and pull her out towards a bright light. When she opened her eyes she noted that she was in a strange white room, filled with weird structures. She looked to her left to see Roxas, but when she looked forward she found the the girl from earlier sitting on an elevated surface. "Your-?!"

The girl bought a finger to her lips to indicate silence, cutting both Xion and Roxas off. "My name is Naminé," she introduced herself.

"Naminé?" Roxas repeated.

"Um, Naminé?" Xion spoke up. Naminé looked towards Xion expectantly, causing her to become nervous. "D- do you really know who I am?" The blonde smiled at Xion as if she anticipated the question.

"Yes, I know who you are Xion," Naminé answered. "Though we've met only once, I know everything about you, and about Roxas."

"What? What do you know about me?" Roxas asked.

"I will answer all of your questions," Naminé assured. "But first, Roxas, do you remember your true name?"

"My true name?" Roxas parroted. To say that the question confused him would be an understatement.

"You're-" Naminé would have kept talking if she weren't suddenly grabbed by a familiar coated figure. This obviously caught Roxas and Xion by surprise.

"Say no more Naminé," the coated figure commanded.

"But if no one tells him," Naminé argued. "Roxas will-!"

"Don't overstep your bounds," he cut off.

"Hey! You're that pick-pocket!" Roxas yelled out. Xion could tell Roxas was angry, but she couldn't help but feel that the figure was familiar. Not from the day before, but as if she had seen him with the hood down. It was then that a name came out of her lips.

"Riku?" Silence filled the room at the mentioned name. "Your Riku," Xion declared. "Sora's friend."

"What?!" Roxas exclaimed. "Riku?!" The figure, or Riku, himself didn't respond. He instead held his hand out towards the two friends. The two heard a sound from behind them and beheld a portal made of darkness. They then felt as if they were picked up, and were unceremoniously thrown into the portal. Riku then looked back towards Naminé.

"It's best he doesn't know the truth," he stated simply. Naminé looked down at that statement.

"But he's never known the truth," Naminé replied sadly. "No one's ever told him..."

"Did knowing the truth do Xion any good?" Riku called out. He got no answer. He looked back to see that Naminé had disappeared from the room. As he was about to leave himself, he noticed something on the ground. More specifically a small white book with the Roman Numeral 'XIII' on the cover.

* * *

(two hours later)

Xion and Roxas were currently walking towards the later's house. Both of them were in a depressed slump. To summarize why they were in this slump, they woke up in the sandlot to find that the white creatures had disappeared, Hayner and the others found them there after some banter with Seifer, they all missed their trip to the beach, and they still haven't gotten any clear answers to Xion's past. To rub more salt into the wound, Hayner seemed to be angry with Roxas. All in all, it was not a good day for them.

"I'm sorry Roxas," Xion finally spoke up.

"Huh? What for?" Roxas asked.

"It's my fault we missed the beach, isn't it?" Xion asked. "Because we were following that Naminé to find my past-"

"Hey, it's not your fault, all right!" Roxas shot down. "We couldn't have known that any of that would happen." He then looked down again. "Besides, it's probably my fault considering that those white creatures were after me."

Xion nodded, though she wasn't fully convinced. "I wonder what Naminé meant by your 'true name'. And why would Riku not want you knowing it?"

"No idea," Roxas shook his head. "But what makes you sure that guy was Riku? He sounded nothing like him!"

"I don't know," Xion admitted. "It's just this feeling I got from him." She then realized what Roxas said. "Wait, how do you know what Riku sounds like?"

Roxas stopped walking at her question. "Um, I had a dream about Riku. You know, Sora's friend."

"You know Sora?!" Xion asked. "Who is he?! All I know about him is that he's Riku's friend!"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Xion!" Roxas placated. "Well, before we met, I would always have dreams about Sora's life with his friends. But when you showed up, I started to have dreams about us in black coats, along with my usual dreams about Sora."

"Wow. That's weird," she replied. "But if Riku was here, then that means that Sora is real, right?"

"Yeah," Roxas responded uncertainly. "But, just who is Sora?"

* * *

_Restoration at 48%_

* * *

"Was that Naminé made out of data?" Riku inquired. He was once again within the laboratory with DiZ.

"No," DiZ denied, rather surprised himself. "Naminé hijacked the data herself. Look what she's done now! She's completely beyond my control!" He punched one of the keyboards in frustration.

"Calm down!" Riku placated. "I got Roxas and Xion out of there before Naminé could say anything."

DiZ took a deep breath in before continuing. "About Xion, what developments have we reached?"

"My memories of her have returned completely," Riku replied. "And I know for a fact that she existed in the real world. Though I don't know how she ended up in the town."

DiZ contemplated before giving his answer. "Well it doesn't matter. So long as Naminé accomplishes her goal, we needn't worry what befalls Roxas."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Riku argued. DiZ turned his chair Towards Riku to emphasize his confusion. "I found something that you might find interesting." Riku then threw the book he found earlier to DiZ.

"What's this?" DiZ demanded.

"Roxas' journal," Riku answered. "From his time in the organization. I read the whole thing, and now I'm starting to wonder if Nobodies really don't exist."

"You're so certain?" DiZ asked sceptically.

"If you don't believe me, you can just look through it yourself." Once he said his word, Riku left the room. Once Riku had left, DiZ looked towards the book for a few more seconds. A minute later he was reading the first page.

* * *

_**NWZ**_**: Again, sorry for the wait. I hope that you all didn't wait too long. Anyway, I'll be taking a break until I've played through Kingdom Hearts II.5 Remix in December, so I'll see you guys then.**

**P.S.: As for where Xion was during this chapter, that was *SPOILERS* the Virtual Twilight Town's dataspace *SPOILERS* and it will play a major roll for Xion and Roxas in the future.**


End file.
